With hundreds of fledgling entrepreneurs ready to change the world and maybe make millions while they do it, the buzz around the microfinance industry looks a bit like the dot-com boom at the end of the ’90s.

Ashish Lakhanpal, founder and managing director of Kismet Capital LLC, remembers the run-up and bust of the Internet and other technology businesses back then and says what he is seeing in microfinance today gives him a bit of déjà vu.

“It smells and feels a lot like those days,” he said at a conference in New Delhi on money-raising for microfinance companies. “You see a whole sector that is being populated with new startups.” Read More »

About India Real Time

India Real Time offers analysis and insights into the broad range of developments in business, markets, the economy, politics, culture, sports, and entertainment that take place every single day in the world’s largest democracy. Regular posts from Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires reporters around the country provide a unique take on the main stories in the news, shed light on what else mattered and why, and give global readers a snapshot of what Indians have been talking about all week. You can contact the editors at indiarealtime(at)wsj(dot)com.